Roleplaying Tips Weekly Supplemental #21
"RPG Advocacy"
This file was created from reader submissions responding to
a Brief Word request in Issue #292. Your response was
incredible - thanks to everyone who wrote in! Please note,
while we tried to include all entries received, we omitted
entries that contained only duplicate links.
Thanks to Leslie Holm for organising and editing!
Cheers,
Johnn Four
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
http://www.roleplayingtips.com
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
0. Original Request
From: Brief Word, Issue #292
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=292#brief_word
============================================================
I received a tricky help request from a young reader. His
parents won't let him play D&D because they feel it is evil
and he wants to know what he can do to convince them
otherwise. First off, I think it's great that the reader's
parents are taking interest in his life and hobbies, and
that they're setting boundaries they feel are in his best
interests. Without having met or chatted with the parents,
my best guess is they're basing their decision on
misinformation. There's a well-known webcomic, for example,
that outright says D&D is evil. And there are numerous
personal websites and press sites that call RPGs various
names. I'd like to supply our fellow gamer with links to
websites and articles he can forward to his parents so they
can learn more and make the best-informed decision as
possible concerning their son's request. If you have any
good advocacy or informational links, please forward them to
me. Also, if you have any tips or advice for young people
whose parents won't let them game because of possible
misconceptions about our hobby, I'd love to hear those as
well. Thanks!
1. RPG Advocacy Links & Resources
From: Chris Dyszelski
============================================================
Here is a list of advocacy resources that I have:
* CAR-PGa: http://members.aol.com/waltonwj/carpga.htm
* Role-playing Defense
http://www.hoboes.com/html/RPG/Defense.html
* Studies on Role-Playing Games:
http://www.rpgstudies.net/
* Source About Role-Playing Games:
http://www.rpg.net/sites/252/quellen/sources.html
* Ontario Religious Tolerance Group - useful for those
attacking from religious grounds:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/d_a_d.htm
Books:
* 'Shared Fantasy: Role-playing Games as Social Worlds', by
Gary Alan Fine (1983) - while out of date (and out of
print), it does show how gamers form communities and
presents a wide perspective on helping to understand what
roleplaying is. You might be able to track a copy down
through academic libraries.
* 'The Fantasy Roleplaying Gamers Bible 2nd Edition', by
Sean Fannon (2000). It explains the games, their history,
and has a bit of an outdated list of different games to help
parents choose games for their kids.
* 'The Fantasy Role-playing Game: A New Performing Art', by
Danile Mackay (2001) - A really dense book that looks at
games as a performing art. Definitely scholarly, but there
are parts in here that would help parents to understand
games, their history, and why they can be good. Any teen
that could read this book, and understand even some of it,
would show his parents that gaming isn't for the ignoramus.
Not to be self promoting, but if you have access to
university interlibrary loan...my Master's thesis is held at
Miami University. It's titled 'Re-visioning Role-Playing
Games: A Narrative Exploration of the Experiences of Role-
Playing Gamers', by Christopher Justin Dyszelski, Imprint
1998. If you can't access it that way, I can e-mail you a
copy of the documents...anything to help a fellow gamer.
I think the best thing young people can do is to TALK with
their parents, explain why they want to play, and provide
evidence that the hype saying all games are bad is bunk. If
they can, they should go together to a game store and watch
games being played. Most parents are just freaked out by the
"unknown factor." Once they see it's a just a bunch of
people having fun, they usually relax a bit. Often, even if
they don't understand the games or even are a little
concerned about the content, realizing their kid is
somewhere safe with people and not running the streets
committing real crimes, doing drugs, etc. is enough for them
to say "OK."
Another faction is the "games make people crazy" camp. While
there are some very poorly conducted and yet published
studies, the bulk of the decent research shows that games
don't do those things. There are also lots of good articles
(see those study links above) that debunk the myths or that
show the positives of games.
There are certainly factions of anti-gaming that are based
on religious convictions, and the chances of changing their
beliefs are often slim to none. They believe that anything
not of their doctrine is "Evil" or "wrong" or "from the
Devil." Changing the convictions of these parents will be
challenging. The best thing young people can do here is to
try to remain respectful and explain their viewpoints to
their parents in the hope that they will change their minds.
When they reach adulthood, they can do what as adults is
their right to do...play!
Sometimes, depending on one's political views, the anti-
censorship argument might come in handy, though that one can
be tough for youngsters to muster against parents, who have
the right to censor what their children see and have contact
with.
2. GAMA for RPG Advocacy
From: Jay A. Johnson
============================================================
As a former RPG retailer, I can tell you that some of the
best resources for fighting this sort of prejudice are
published by GAMA (the GAme Manufacturers Association). You
can find some of them at the GAMA website (see link above).
I believe they are now available in PDF as well as print
form.
* GAMA's Games in Education Program:
http://www.gama.org/programs/gie
* GAMA's Industry Watch- a direct contact to one of the
most knowledgeable sources of game advocacy Mike
Stackpole: http://www.gama.org/committees/industry_watch
I have used both the "Dealing with Parents" and the "Games
in Education" pieces and found them to be very effective.
3. Caution Is The Key Word
From: Mike
============================================================
I've got some serious... (reservations is too strong a term)
hesitations concerning the issue you raise in your editorial
concerning the young guy whose parents won't let him
roleplay. Specifically, we (the readers) don't know anywhere
near enough about the situation to judge it.
We don't know the reasons for the parent's refusal. While
one possible reason is because of mis-information, there are
a number of others:
* The boy might be psychologically fragile.
* Religious beliefs.
* The prohibition might be in response to discipline
problems.
* The parents might simply disapprove of roleplaying
without being misinformed as to the nature of the
activity. For example, they may disapprove of the violence
(however virtual) that is part and parcel of most games.
The only advice I would happily recommend in this situation
is to locate some articulate, educated, and employed role-
player living somewhere near the wants-to-be-a-roleplayer.
He can show the parents that the players are not harmed by
the activity and can directly assess any concerns.
Above all, remember that parents have the responsibility and
the right to restrict their son's activities until he is
legally adult, and to some extent these powers could even
extend beyond that date if the son continues to live under
their roof.
4. The Pulling Report
From: Dan "Ducky" Howard
============================================================
I know how the player feels - my parents bought into the D&D
is from the devil line too. I found a well written paper on
the subject not too long ago that helped. It was written by
Mike Stackpole, a well known author and a key writer for
many storylines, most notably Battletech and Star Wars
novels. He was commissioned to write a detailed defense of
gaming against an organization known as BADD (Bothered about
Dungeons and Dragons) That paper exposes the media lies and
the statistical twisting done to make us all look like devil
worshipers.
The Pulling Report - Mike Stackpole's rebuttal of the whole
anti-game nonsense from the 80's:
http://www.rpgstudies.net/stackpole/pulling_report.html
This report helped me, but even if it doesn't help this
player, it's a very interesting piece of gamer history.
5. 5 Reasons Your Kids Should Play Dungeons and Dragons
From: The Duelist
============================================================
Here is an article from PVP Online titled, "5 Reasons Your
Kids Should Play Dungeons and Dragons."
http://www.pvponline.com/rants_dd.php3
6. Point To Childrens Books
From: Chris S.
============================================================
Hi there. You will probably get a lot of emails like this,
but I wanted to make sure my viewpoint was heard. My family
was exactly the same as you described. I was raised in a
very strict religious home, with Sunday School from early
memory until I moved out for college, and I attended
devotions almost daily. In fact, I wasn't able to start
playing until I went to college, but once I got to play it I
was able to explain it to them. The real reason that parents
are worried about this is because they don't understand the
idea behind it. D&D and most other games have the players
playing characters who are fighting the forces of evil. But
with titles like Dungeons and Dragons or Vampire it is very
easy to judge a book by its cover.
The biggest problem for my family was magic. They had the
idea that magic is 'from the devil' or just not right. I
find that the most interesting way to talk to parents about
that is to refer them to works like The Lion, Witch and the
Wardrobe, Lord of the Rings, or even Harry Potter, though he
last one is a little more controversial. In all of these
books there are instances of magic and all kinds of
characters fighting evil. My parents were big fans of C.S.
Lewis and my mother had read the books of Narnia and made me
read them as well. I think the point is really just helping
parents understand that roleplaying isn't intrinsically
evil. Most people simply don't know what goes on in
roleplaying games. Since there really is no screaming
advocacy for it, they only hear the negative, and most of
that is made up.
7. Read the Players Handbook
From: Janis Maggs
============================================================
Perhaps the simplest way for the parents of that young
reader to get over their misconceptions about D&D is for
them to actually sit down and read the Player's Handbook. If
they truly want to parent in an informed and not knee-jerk
manner, they will at least give it a try. Perhaps the reader
could borrow a copy of the PHB from a friend, or perhaps it
is worth a $30 investment on the part of the parents to buy
one.
My mother never really liked me playing D&D when I was
growing up. It would have meant a lot if she would have
educated herself about it instead of relying on hearsay.
8. Read Uncle Figgy
From: Joseph R.
============================================================
The absolute best site I have ever seen regarding the
"truth" about D&D is Uncle Figgy's Guide to Roleplaying for
Non-Roleplayers: A Manual for Parents, Friends and Gamers
at: http://www.dragondogpress.com/unclefiggy/rp4nrp/
My parents had seen (I believe it was) a Dateline: NBC
expose about D&D and were absolutely freaked out when I told
them that my friend showed me this great new game. (Ed.
note: see the article from AP regarding this report at
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7857016/ ). Fortunately, my dad
was level-headed enough to do a little research and take a
look at the books before coming to a judgment, and he gave
me the green-light to play.
The mother of a fellow gamer still doesn't like his playing
because she believes the game is related to satanic
practices (though he's now 20, so he's allowed to do his own
thing), but she took him to his church leader when he first
got into the game. The pastor sat down with all three core
books for a week, studied them, and was actually able to
tell my friend's mom that the game, as presented in the
literature, did not appear to be detrimental to the
Christian lifestyle in its own right (her main concern).
The article explains the game beautifully. The thing that
helped me most in convincing my mother was being completely
open. I offered her the books to read and even suggested
that my friends come to my house to play a game that she
could sit in on. After about 30 minutes of watching she got
bored and decided that we weren't doing anything harmful.
Another good source for information is the owners of gaming
stores that specialize in RPGs and wargaming.
Parents just worry their children are going to get hurt and,
just like everyone else, the less they know the worse the
things they imagine. Accurate information is often the best
cure against paranoia and fear of the unknown.
9. Wizards Of The Coast Provides Links
From: Howard Coons
============================================================
Here are links from Wizard's own website that might come in
handy (although, depending on what the kid's parents think;
perhaps Vin Diesel isn't exactly a role model).
* Fantasy: The Thirty Years War
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6471868/site/newsweek
* How 'Dungeons' changed the world
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/11/15/dungeons_and_dragons_we_love_you/
* D&D lives on, after all these years.
http://www.nationalreview.com/miller/miller200410151029.asp
* D&D History series part II:
http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/539/539197p1.html
(pg. 3 is especially interesting)
10. Parental Misconceptions
From: Breanna Nichole
============================================================
* Emphasize the Tolkien connection. Beliefs that fantasy is
evil often stem from the supernatural stuff that fantasy
includes, spells most particularly. Certain people have made
a crusade of convincing parents fantasy leads children to
Satanism and the occult, which in turn will destroy their
children's souls. However, D&D in particular and fantasy in
general owe a great deal to JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, who
both used the fantasy medium to communicate moral, and
indeed specifically Christian, values and lessons.
* Related to the above, people who hold these beliefs are
typically politically conservative, so they are likely to
appreciate this analogy: Fantasy doesn't lead people to
Satan, Satan leads people to Satan! As in, guns don't kill
people, people kill people. It's not the medium that is at
fault, it's what people do with it. Just as weapons can be
used for good or evil purposes, so can virtually everything
else in the world. So the stories you hear from people like
Jack Chick are not relevant.
* An excellent resource: The Christian Gamer's Guild. (Ed.
See link in Christian Gamers Responses). This series of
articles explores various theological aspects of gaming,
coming to the conclusion that, if done properly, gaming can
be quite a pious activity and, like Tolkien and Lewis, lead
to promotion of Christian values. Most gaming, unlike most
of the rest of the culture, emphasizes a battle between good
and evil, rather than the "shades of grey" relativism that
is so prominent in music, television, and movies.
* If parents are still nervous about the fantasy aspect of
gaming, try a non-fantasy RPG. Options have increased
dramatically since the first big D&D controversies. Try the
Star Wars RPG, D20 Modern, D20 Future, a superhero type game
(Heroes Unlimited is one). Check out 3rd party publishers
and other genres. Things like superheroes and Star Wars have
a great deal of popular acceptance, so parents may be more
comfortable with them - the parents were likely fans when
they were younger.
* Compare gaming to other leisure activities. Gaming is
active, social, creative, an intellectual challenge, and can
be a forum for moral development. Television is passive,
solitary, provides no opportunity for creative or
intellectual contribution, and is often saturated with
violent, sexual, and morally relativistic images and
lessons. Would you rather have your child suddenly develop a
burning curiosity about medieval armors, or sit in his room
singing along with the latest rap lyrics? If your kid is
gaming with a group of friends in the basement of your
house, he's not out partying and experimenting with who
knows what substance. Gaming is the pinnacle of "good clean
fun" for those with the intellectual capacity to enjoy it.
11. Roleplaying Has Benefits
From: Kasper van den Berg
============================================================
* It is important to listen to the parents and find out
their concerns about roleplaying. When you know their
objections, it is easier to provide information countering
them.
* Roleplaying (and especially being a game master) is
closely related to creative writing. You can find many
articles about this on websites about roleplaying, including
roleplayingtips.com. Most people have a positive attitude
towards creative writing. (Even when you do not aspire to
become a professional writer, creative writing is a good
skill to have.)
* Search for information about how teachers use roleplaying
games and what benefits they have found.
* Roleplaying teaches you to cooperate with other people.
* Roleplaying, especially being a game master, teaches you
to notice and respond to other people's emotions and
attitude.
* You probably know about Google's directory about
roleplaying in society:
http://www.google.com/Top/Games/Roleplaying/Roleplaying_in_Society/
This contains some advocacy articles and some opposing articles.
* The parents can become more familiar with roleplaying by
playing it with their son or by game mastering the game.
* Many roleplayers I know are computer scientists and none
of them is a Satanist (including the roleplayers who are not
computer scientists).
12. D&D Is "Evil"
From: Zelly
============================================================
I don't know if you, or your young reader have seen the
article about this on Planet ADnD, but here's a link:
http://www.planetadnd.com/dndsatan.php
I went through this a bit in my youth, and I know it can be
a very difficult situation. The best advice I can think of
would be for this person to collect as much information as
they can and sit and talk with their parents. If they can
avoid argument and listen to each other's sides without
passing immediate judgment, then perhaps they can come to an
understanding. A lot of parents just worry about their
children, and if they hear that something is bad and could
harm their child, the quickest solution seems to be to
forbid it.
I've learned from experience that it's better to research
some of these things a bit more deeply. Do you know if their
parents read or go to movies? I have family that is against
D&D, but loved The Lord of the Rings movies. If they could
get their parents to understand that D&D is just a creative
form of expression similar to those books and films, maybe
there would be a better chance of them coming to some sort
of understanding.
13. A Parent's Point of View
From: Christopher
============================================================
Speaking from a parent's point of view, you'll be hard
pressed to convince any adult otherwise who already has
their mind made up that D&D, or roleplaying games in
general, are evil and who isn't open to hearing opposing
arguments.
However, if a parent is open to hearing arguments to the
contrary, often the best measure is a direct and open line
of communication with others in the same position.
Being a parent myself, I would be hesitant, if not
completely skeptical, to hear arguments from some other teen
on the merits of any particular game. However, hearing the
same arguments, intelligently and coherently displayed from
another parent, would have much more weight and may convince
me to re-evaluate my views.
Granted, in this day and age, it's very easy to have ones
friends pose as concerned parents, thus invalidating any
points made by an e-mail, but that addresses a whole other
issue of trust and communication between the player and
parent.
14. Parents - Join Kids-RPG and Chat with Parents of
Gaming Kids
From: Johnn Four
============================================================
If you're a parent and are curious about RPGs, check out the
kids-rpg Yahoo! Group where real parents discuss why and how
to game with kids. Several games are chatted about,
including Dungeons & Dragons. The people on the list are
kind and generous and always willing to help.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kids-rpg/
15. Consider The Hasbro Factor
From: Colin Walmsley
============================================================
Parents worried about D&D being appropriate for kids might
consider that Hasbro owns D&D and publishes all the official
Dungeons & Dragons books. Hasbro is known around the world
as a children's game and entertainment company, and they
have an international reputation to maintain. If D&D were
"evil," rest assured that Hasbro would have nothing to do
with it, nor would the corporation's legion of voting
shareholders!
16. Article Of Note: Die-Cast Ignorance
From: Johnn Four
============================================================
Here's an interesting article about RPGs: "Die-Cast
Ignorance - Having Fun Never Hurt Anyone" by Isaac Calon:
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/die-cast-ignorance.php
17. A Request For RPG Advocacy Resources
From: G.D.
============================================================
All kinds of people have criticized role-playing games and
gamers on all kinds of grounds, including (alleged) sheer
dorkishness, and encouragement of real-life violence,
traffic with evil spirits (occultism and witchcraft, if not
outright Satanism), and other irresponsibilities, to the
extent of publishing condemnations, and (at one point)
forming associations like Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons
(B.A.D.D.)
To refute them, see:
* Ubyssey Magazine's article, "Dungeons, dragons
and...dorks? A look at what lies beneath the stigma":
http://www.ubyssey.bc.ca/20040924/article.shtml?%3C!--2--%3Efeature/untitled.html
* Some gamers have replied with mockery (well, admittedly
sometimes this has been pretty easy: see Jack Chick's Dark
Dungeons: http://www.humpin.org/mst3kdd/ )
* Others have responded to these concerns in informed and
considerate fashion, and a comprehensive collection of
"apologetics" on the subject (particularly from a Christian
perspective; but much discussion of the ethical aspects of
RPGs, both in-game and out-of-game, would be of interest to
non-Christians too) may be found at the Christian Gamer's
Guild (Ed. see link below in Christian Gamers Response) and
the references therein, such as "Confessions of a Dungeons &
Dragons Addict.".
* Another good article: "The Great Roleplaying Myths"
http://www.tabularasa.info/Roleplaying/RoleplayingMyths.html
18. Respect Each Other
From: Dave Lowry
============================================================
When I was younger, my parents were very cautious about AD&D
(2nd ed. back then!) and I've got some thoughts I'd like to
share, perhaps for the benefit of both parties. I've been
roleplaying for almost 15 years now.
As you know, roleplaying does occasionally get bad press,
from the story of a serial killer in the UK who murdered a
mother and child because a PBM game told him he had to
before he could advance to the next level. (Ed. Note:
extensive searching of the internet did not turn up any
links to this event) I forget the details, but it was an
event that sent shockwaves through the country. Parents,
perhaps justifiably, knee-jerked a reaction and labeled
anything roleplaying as evil. It's understandable in that
regard.
However, kids playing 'Doctors & Nurses' is roleplaying.
Playing 'Cops & Robbers' or 'Cowboys & Indians' is
roleplaying too. Even some business training courses
recommend 'playing a role' to experience a customer's point
of view for service matters. I think some parents may
misunderstand the greater aspect of it.
What I would recommend to the young reader is, if he feels
brave enough, ask one of his parents to sit in or listen to
a game in progress. The key is twofold: the parents to agree
to be open minded about what they see and hear, and the
child to respect their parents' wishes after they've made
their decision. Quite often, seeing it in motion is probably
a big relief to parents, as they can understand for
themselves what's going on. If the game is usually at a
friend's house, see if a special one-off session can be held
at his house. Parents can make some food and have
videos/DVDs on standby.
19. Communication Is The Key
From: Glen McNamara
============================================================
I have a couple of stories that come with tips for your
young gamer whose parents are concerned about D&D.
When I very first started gaming, we had a pretty big group
of enthusiastic kids, all of whom were excited about
starting to play D&D. We talked about it all the time, and I
developed a detailed campaign, and we finally came to the
day where we were to have our first session.
One person didn't show up. We called his house, and he said
that he wasn't allowed to play because his parents were
worried we might be starting a cult. So, we had our first
session without him and had a blast, but since he was my
brother's best friend, we really wanted him to come play
next time.
As the DM (and the eldest), the responsibility fell to me.
The solution turned out to be surprisingly simple. I went
and talked to his parents. I listened to their concerns, and
at the end, responded to them. Basically, all I had to do
was explain that it's really just a combination of
collective story-telling and Risk, that we weren't going out
into the woods with bows to shoot at each other, and that as
a twelve year old I wasn't ready to start a cult yet. They
were very nice about it, despite their concern, and I was
nice back, and in the end they trusted me enough to let the
kid come play with us. Problem solved.
The only other instance where I've heard of parents not
wanting a child to play was a girlfriend's dad not wanting
her little brother to do it because of religious concerns. I
heard this, felt I should intervene, and simply mentioned to
him that I had played in and run games for almost ten years.
He was interested and he trusted me, so I answered a couple
of simple questions and that was that.
Finally, I noticed that once the local gaming shop started
displaying D&D stuff in the front window (this was years
ago), it became more widely accepted around here. Even the
people who thought all D&D players had to be total weirdoes
played a few games. There's safety in numbers.
So, in summary:
* Solution 1: Get someone from the gaming group (usually the
DM) to talk to the kid's parents. Listen to their concerns,
and answer any questions honestly.
* Solution 2: Get someone older who's been playing for a
while and has some credibility to answer questions for the
parents. One of the local librarians here is an avid gamer,
and he's someone that any parent would trust.
* Solution 3: Let the kid himself point out that there is a
huge and diverse community of gamers. There are even some
famous people playing:
http://www.enworld.org/printthread.php?t=9632
RPGs are often depicted in popular culture as harmless (and
really fun) games.
20. Christian Gamers Responses
============================================================
Ed Note: We received so many responses relating to religion
and roleplaying, we put all the response together as
follows:
A. Christian Gamers Guild from Jon Thompson
* The Christian Gamers Guild, in their own words, "seek to
reclaim the imagination to be conformed to the image of
Christ through the use of gaming as a creative art form. You
can find the Index of Articles here:
http://www.geocities.com/christian_gamers_guild/chaplain/index.html
* Some of their best articles:
o Christians Playing D&D:
http://www.fansforchrist.org/phpBB2/articles/article03.htm
(make sure you click on the links to the next section
at the bottom of the page)
o Confessions of a D&D Addict:
http://www.mjyoung.net/dungeon/confess.html
* Magic in RPGs: http://claymore.50megs.com/gamemagic.html
* And there are lots more on the index page. Most of them
are roleplaying based with the occasional Harry Potter or
Pokemon reference thrown in for flavor.
* And I can't resist posting a link to this. Every gamer who
thinks that Christians are narrow minded should read this.
It does a good job to point out that people are people, and
people make decisions based on ignorance and assumptions -
be they gamers, Christians or neither.
http://www.mysticages.com/christiangamer.html
B. A Christian Gamer's Perspective. From Lorele
* For a Christian gamer, here is a good resource:
http://www.compineduc.com/ryan/faith.html
I found it quite an interesting site, as the "Why Play?"
link matches up to his Faith Cheat Sheet.
C. 5 Tips for Explaining Roleplay from the Christian point
of view. From John Gallagher
Sigh. I've been gaming for 25 years, and I can't believe
we're still dealing with this issue. I went to Christian
schools all my life, including college, where several of my
friends were pre-seminary students. I have been gaming since
I was about 16 or so. And all along the way, I've had to
debate people who had the perception that gaming, DnD in
particular, was evil. Indeed, most of these people have ONLY
ever heard of DnD.
1) I've debated this issue with theology professors,
students, misinformed parents, and family. The single
constant throughout was this: not one had *ever* seen an RPG
played or even looked at the rules, beyond the book covers.
So the first thing I always do is invite them to come to a
game and watch it.
2) Most of them, as I said, can only point to one game, DnD,
which as we know, has demons, devils, magic, pagan priests,
etc., as part of the game. Somehow, these inclusions became
twisted to the common belief that we actually cast spells,
call on demons, etc. So, the second thing I do is point out
that early Christians were often perceived as evil, and
their worship was considered to contain unsavory and
horrific acts. Had anyone bothered to attend a service to
check it out, they could have discovered the truth.
3) The next thing I do is ask them if they ever played
Cowboys and Indians as a child, or cops and robbers, or any
of the hundreds of variants of "let's pretend" that we all
played as kids. If so, then they've played role playing
games themselves. Because RPGs are nothing more than
codified versions of Let's Pretend, with dice, maps, and
other props to fill in the blanks of our imaginations.
4) Then, I point out that there are other RPGs out there.
Boot Hill, Star Wars, Star Trek, Paranoia, Champions, and my
favorite myth buster, Pandemonium. None of these games deal
with those issues that parents fear. And how can anyone take
Pandemonium as anything but pure farce? It's a game about
reporters chasing Bigfoot, alien abduction and Elvis
sighting stories for a tabloid.
5) My last argument is what I call the Monopoly test. Any
game is a competition, at least any game non-RPG'ers are
familiar with. In chess, the idea is to defeat an opposing
army by destroying its soldiers and capturing its king. In
Monopoly, the idea is to drive everyone else bankrupt, etc..
Are ANY of these games displaying a healthy morality? No. So
let's ban them too. It's about at this point that the non-
gamer starts to get fidgety, and sometimes defensive. "Those
games are different", they say. And I ask "How are they
different?" And they usually have no answer but to fall all
the way back to point one: demons and devils. So I again
invite them to a game. But this time, it's more of a
challenge.
D. Meet a Model Roleplayer From: Greg Schwall
I saw your article on the young gamer whose parents have
problems with RPGs. The parents are likely most concerned
about the types of people their son would run into, since
everyone knows D&D is only played by druggies, psychos, and
Satanists. :) Probably the most reassuring thing for them
would be to meet a clean-cut and well adjusted roleplayer to
answer their questions face to face. If they happen to be
near Richmond, VA, I would gladly volunteer. Their heads
might spin when they meet a roleplayer who likes classical
music and was vice president of the Baptist Student Union. I
love your newsletter. Thanks for all the effort you put
forth.
E. Look to Tolkien and C.S. Lewis From: Alex Taylor
I noticed your request for RPG advocacy resources in the
latest Roleplaying Tips newsletter, and immediately started
trying to think of whatever helpful tidbits I could offer. I
never really had to deal personally with parental mistrust
of roleplaying and fantasy, but I've known others who have.
So I sympathize.
Although you didn't explicitly mention religion as a factor
in the attitude of your young reader's parents, I think it's
fairly safe to say that it often is, so my advice will all
be made with that assumption in mind.
I'm a born-again Christian myself, as well as a great lover
of all things mythopoeic, legendary, and folkloric (and, as
one might expect, of roleplaying and the fantasy genre in
general). I will say - most emphatically - that the two are
*not* mutually exclusive. In fact, since I feel so very
passionately about my faith *and* my fantasy, this issue is
extremely dear to my heart. Get ready for a soap-box rant.:-
)
I have a couple of things to say which might prove useful,
but I'll start with these links:
1) Religion and Roleplaying:
http://www.aquela.com/roleplaying/r&r/ written by James
Wyatt, a game-designer and former pastor. From what I
remember, some of his other writings are actually a bit
liberal for my own personal taste, but what he has to say on
that page is quite good. He offers a link to this book,
which I highly recommend.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0940895315/104-1223872-9599969\?n=283155>
2) Better still is this next link:
http://www.trhickman.com/essay.html
It's an essay by Tracy Hickman (Yes, /that/ Tracy Hickman),
who is (as you may or may not know), a Mormon (Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). It's very in-depth, and
covers a lot of ground while remaining interesting to read.
I would *highly* recommend your young reader's parents read
the essay in its entirety. I really can't stress that enough
- Mr. Hickman says everything that needs to be said, and he
says it well.
3) Anyone struggling with the issue of the fantastic as it
relates to their faith could do no better than to look to
the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and George
MacDonald. The works of these literary titans continues to
inspire countless legions of imitators in the fantasy genre.
All three writers worked in different ways, but with the
same purpose in mind. They did *not*, as so many now
erroneously and pretentiously assume, strive to create
allegorical embodiments of Christian doctrines.
What they did do was to *tell stories*, and they did a
darned good job of it. The Christian themes that may be
found in their works are simply a natural outgrowth of their
personal beliefs. In other words, they didn't set to create
Christian Fantasy, but their stories had elements of
Christianity woven into their fabric at a very deep level
because it was, impossible for them to do otherwise.
George Lucas has described himself as a Buddhist Methodist.
He was raised in a conservative Methodist home and
assimilated bits and pieces of Buddhist philosophy later in
life. Naturally, the Star Wars films - and the rest of
Lucas' body of work -reflect that unique worldview. He's not
setting out to create "Buddhist Methodist" cinema. It just
happens because that's who he is.
Tolkien's seminal essay On Fairy Stories is readily
available in a number of published sources, and I could
recommend no better single source of information to
anyone asking the question "What good is fantasy?" It
really is definitive. George MacDonald's much shorter
essay, "The Fantastic Imagination" is also well worth
reading - it's included in the Penguin Classics edition
of his Complete Fairy Tales:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140437371/
As for Lewis, most of his relevant works written in the
defense and explanation of fantasy and his own very
particular brand of fiction writing may be found in the
anthology C.S. Lewis On Stories: And Other Essays on
Literature.
Particularly good are the titular On Stories, and the much
shorter Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's To Be
Said.
In closing, I might add the final argument that roleplaying
and the fantasy genre as a whole do not create degenerate
social misfits; they simply attract them. On the other side
of the coin, they also attract a good many clean-cut,
mentally stable, morally upstanding people who simply enjoy
using their God-given sense of imagination - a pursuit for
which roleplaying is tailor-made.
F. Christian article. From: Charles
This is an article written by a D&D player who happens to be
a Christian. Perhaps it would help with the young man whose
parents won't let him play.
http://www.mjyoung.net/dungeon/confess.html
21. A Site Devoted To RPG Advocacy
From: Leslie Holm
============================================================
Created by William Walton over 10 years ago, The Escapist
is, in his own words, "a web page devoted to the betterment
of role-playing games and the education of the public and
media of their benefits to society." In it you will find
links to advocacy articles, descriptions of what roleplaying
is - and isn't, articles debunking the mythos of 'evil' in
roleplaying, and forums for discussion. Visit it at:
http://www.theescapist.com/
22. Defending DnD
From: Galen Ciscell
============================================================
There's a great article at:
http://www.ntskeptics.org/1995/1995may/may1995.htm
23. Roleplaying as a Teaching Tool
From: Nicholas Bannister
============================================================
I am an English Teacher in Russia, and roleplaying is my
primary tool to teach my students to practice and use their
skills in speaking. For over 6 years I have been researching
and formulating systems and 'Concepts of the Roleplay
Environment' as a training and teaching tool for modern
Human Resources and business management.
This technique is growing and gaining popularity within
business environments. Training CEOs to 'think outside the
box' is important to their companies and has a relatively
unknown solution to the problem.
There are of course, weekend retreats, training seminars,
and sessions that brush the surface of CEO and staff
training, yet in-depth mental training is still an untouched
sphere.
If parents of a roleplaying gamer wish to ban such
Activities, they should first read some articles by
psychologists and teachers who explain in detail how
beneficial roleplay is. Some even cite increased mental
aptitude within scholastic environments, though if, like any
activity, it interferes or takes over the majority of the
participant's life, then like drugs, alcohol and gambling,
an 'evil' perception can be seen by outside watchers.
Sorry that I cannot reference my materials, as all my notes
and references are back in Australia, where I am not. Be not
dismayed, but do a web search on
Roleplay+Psychology+Teaching and you will come across many
citable instances.
(Note from Ed.: Out of curiosity, I did run a dogpile search
on the above, and came up with 73 links, but they were to
the form of roleplay that teaches you behavioral patterns in
the business world. Changing your search to roleplaying
games+psychology+teaching nets you 25 links such as:
* An article on Gaming and Education at:
http://www.rpg.net/sites/edu/3-1.html
* A reference to some psychological studies that have been
done on the effects of role-playing at:
http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/whatis/psychology.html
Note - not all of the articles listed here advocate
roleplaying.
* An essay entitled 'Playing Being Human' at:
http://www.sendcoffee.com/dog-o-matic/dogboard/barks/92.html
24. Educational Brochures
From: David Millians
============================================================
Good afternoon, Johnn. I always enjoy Roleplaying Tips
Weekly, and I thought I should write to you in response to
your request in the latest issue. Probably people have
already written to you about CAR-PGa and The Game Advocate
(http://www.theescapist.com/). Bill has put my GAMA games
and education brochures online:
http://www.gama.org/programs/gie
* Games In Education, Pamphlet 1 - Introduction, Nuts & Bolts (pdf)
http://www.gama.org/uploads/nS/XX/nSXX7lbqv9r-V1glq3UvQg/GinEBrochure1.pdf
* Games In Education, Pamphlet 2 - Language Arts & Literature (pdf)
http://www.gama.org/uploads/6G/uc/6GucakYBGXEzuTJ0krOLoA/GinEBrochure2.pdf
* Games In Education, Pamphlet 3 - History & Social Studies (pdf)
http://www.gama.org/uploads/7o/QK/7oQK4Kpo-3orVG2vivTWuA/GinEBrochure3.pdf
* Games In Education, Pamphlet 4 - Math (pdf)
http://www.gama.org/uploads/Nl/Xm/NlXm4un99OfTqFG-C_BFrw/GinEBrochure4.pdf
25. Research Papers On Roleplaying
From: Auke
============================================================
Johnn,
Unfortunately I don't have Internet links to the papers
below. The citations (to the paper version) are:
Carroll, J. & Carolin, P. (1989) Relationship Between Game
Playing and Personality. Psychological Reports, volume 64,
pp.705-706.
Carter, R. & Lester, D. (1998) Personalities of Players of
Dungeons and Dragons. Psychological Reports, volume 82,
p.182.
Dayan, D. (1986) Book Review: "Shared Fantasy: Role-Playing
Games As Social Worlds" American Journal of Sociology,
91(5), 1219-1228.
Derenard, La & Kline, Lm (1990) Alienation and the game
Dungeons and Dragons, Psychological Reports, volume 66,
pp.1219-1222.
Lancaster, K. (n.d.) Do Role-Playing Games Promote Crime,
Satanism and Suicide Among Players As Critics Claim? Journal
of Popular Culture, volume x , 67-79.
Rosenthal, G., Soper, B., Folse, E. & Whipple, G. (1998)
Role-Play Gamers and National Guardsmen Compared.
Psychological Reports, volume 82, 169-170.
Simon, A. (1987) Emotional Stability Pertaining to the Game
of Dungeons and Dragons. Psychology in the Schools, volume
24, pp. 329-332.
The journals "Psy Rep", "Am J Soc" and "Psy in the Schools"
are main-stream publications that should be available at any
university. The "Journal of Popular Culture" is a bit more
obscure, at least here in South Africa, presumably because
it deals mostly with American popular culture.
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End of Supplemental #21
Have more fun at every game!
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
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